This Christmas
by foolishgames
Summary: Naomi hated Christmas, the whole Christmas season. But one year, her life changed in more ways than she could imagine at a holiday party thrown by her best mate. A series of interconnected one shots that take place over five different Christmases.
1. 2007

**Hello fellow Naomily lovers! After a long absence I'm here to bring you the gift a new Naomily story! It's going to be a short one, six chapter at the most, but it's something nontheless. The premise is that it will follow a number of Christmases in Naomi's life starting with 2007, and each chapter will encompass one year. And of course, there will be lots of Emily in there as well.**

**There are a lot of great new stories on here these days, and even though I've been gone for a while it makes me very happy to know the community is still booming.**

**Happy Holidays folks.**

**Expect the next chapter tomorrow :)**

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_London, Christmas Eve, 2007_

I hate holiday parties.

Yet here I am, dressed in a ridiculous bright green dress and complete with a red Santa hat that my best mate had picked out for me, walking towards what she touted as "the greatest fucking Christmas Eve party I'd ever been to." Apparently it was some huge party that her parents put off every year to much acclaim from their friends and family. Considering I had never been to a Christmas Eve party, it was pretty much guaranteed to be the best one I'd ever attended, but that didn't make me any less reluctant to go there. Like I said, I fucking hate holiday parties, it doesn't matter what day it's on.

I swore loudly when my heal slipped on the ice as I trotted along, reminding me how much I hated winter as well. I let out an exasperated sigh, causing the tuff of my blonde hair that had fallen in front of my eyes in my near tumble to blow out of my line of vision once more. I summoned all of my strength to continue towards the hotel where the gala was supposed to take place. This was going to be one long night.

Christmas, for me, was not generally a time for celebration. My dad had left during the holiday season, so for the first few years I can remember my holiday memories are filled with nothing but my mother and I trying to get by without him. My mum's great, don't get me wrong. But when you're six years old and it's your first Christmas without your dad around, it doesn't matter how great your mum is; it's always going to suck. For a little while, we would still decorate the house and exchange gifts in the morning, but after a few years, mum and I stopped bothering with the whole thing all together. Neither of us are Christians anyway, so we were only celebrating the mainstream consumerism that has corrupted our culture, and who needs that? No, I was much happier without Christmas. And, aside from the occasional holiday party I was dragged off to by a friend, I was pretty much able to avoid the whole Christmas season.

You can call me a Grinch, or a Scrooge if you wish, but it won't change the fact that Christmas just isn't for me. But hey, I promise I won't steal all of your presents or yell "bah humbug" if you wish me a Happy Christmas; I'm far from that cartoonish, believe me.

I finally made my way to the hotel, the biggest fucking one in town I might add. Yeah, my mate's folks are pretty rich. Both of her parents own rather successful businesses, and she herself is pretty up and coming in the fashion industry. I know, it's weird, right? Hard, cynical, political journalist Naomi Campbell best friends with a posh fashion designer. Well, admittedly at first we had hated each other's guts. For a while I was convinced I had performed some absolutely heinous deed in a past life to end up with her as my college roommate. But what can I say? She grew on me, and now we're thick as thieves.

I made my way up the steps to the front door of the hotel, careful with my footing to ensure I didn't slip and face plant into the snow. I'm not exactly the most graceful person after all, especially in heels.

Stepping into the lobby, I'm unsurprised but somewhat awed by just how amazingly it's decorated. Fucking hell, if the lobby is this nice, I can only imagine how the ballroom must look. I'm approached by a spiffy looking young bloke in a tux who queries as to whether or not I'm with the party. I nod, and he leads me through the lobby to a giant set of beautiful red doors, decorated of course with garland and Christmas lights.

He opens the doors for me, and once again I'm immediately struck by the décor of the room. The main lights are dimmed so practically the entire room is illuminated in the dull glow of white Christmas lights. There are gold and silver snowflakes hanging from the endlessly high ceiling, and garland and holly as far as the eye can see. A rather large Christmas tree was situated in the middle of the room, making any tree that we had before my dad left look like a sodding bush. People dressed in fancy suits and dresses fill the room in every corner, reminding me once again why I hate these things so much.

I'm not standing there long before I hear my name being excitedly called. I plaster a fake smile on my face, though I know it isn't really necessary, and spin around to face my best mate.

"Alright Katie?"

Her lips twist up into an amused smirk before she leans in and kisses my cheek lightly in greeting.

"I can't believe you actually came," she grinned.

"Well, it's not like you gave me much of a choice," I replied, smirking myself.

"Oh come on now, it's not like I forced you."

"I would call death threats a pretty strong form of coercion, Katie," I quipped without missing a beat.

"Bitch," she answered with mock surprise, before her features once again danced with amusement, "come on, mum and dad want to say hello."

~:~

It doesn't take long for the party to be in full swing. Katie's parents hired a big bang to play jazzy, upbeat versions of old Christmas standards and all of the guests were eating it up. I laughed as I watched yet another old man awkwardly trying to cut in and dance with a woman half his age. The creeped out look that immediately appeared on their faces was priceless every time. Of course, by this time I had made my way over the bar and was nursing my third vodka of the evening. What can I say? It's an open bar, and I already told you that I fucking hate these things.

"Enjoying yourself blondie?" I hear a gruff male voice shout from my left.

"Evening Cook," I respond without even glancing over, fully aware of who had joined me.

Cook was a good friend of mine from uni, and was Katie's fiancée as well. Cook and I had met at a mixer a couple of months into my first semester and he had, of course, immediately tried to pull me. Before he met Katie, Cook was quite the ladies man and practically perpetually on the pull. When I rebuffed his advances, explaining I was as gay as a window, instead of reacting with persistence or disappointment as I expected he instead told me it was "fucking brilliant" and that I'd have to be his wing man sometime. We've been mates ever since.

"Knocking it back a little hard tonight, eh blondie? Not havin' a good time then?"

"You know I hate these things Cook," I replied, taking a long swig of my drink, "I'm only here because Katie begged me."

"You can't blame 'er, you know excited she is that you're finally in London for the holidays."

I nodded to acknowledge the truth in his statement; the man had a point. This was the first year since Katie and I had known each other that I was in London for the holidays. During my uni years I would usually go back to Bristol and spend some time with mum, and the last few years I had spent either travelling or on a work assignment. Katie had been so ecstatic when I told her I would be staying in London for Christmas, insisting that I had to come to the annual Fitch family Christmas Eve party.

"You enjoying yourself then?" I asked, finally turning to face him. He grinned widely at me, and I could tell by the glazed look in his eyes that he already had quite a few drinks.

"You know it, Naomikins," he responded, laughing loudly before taking a huge swig of his beer.

"Hope you two aren't getting into any trouble," I heard Katie ask as she appeared in my line of sight, slipping her arms around Cook and kissing him softly on the cheek.

"No worries babe, we're doing great," Cook replied with a toothy grin.

"Glad to hear it," she responded, regarding him fondly before turning towards me, "oh Naomi, my sister is here. You've got to finally meet her."

Ah, the sister.

The one Katie had been gushing about for years; the elusive Emily that I just had to meet but somehow never had in the course of our six year friendship.

Emily had attended university in the states, so the only time she had been around during our uni years was during the holidays; when I was in Bristol. And after she graduated she travelled for a few years, working with various organizations in Malawi or India or something like that. Katie had always insisted that we would get along so well, that we would just love each other; but really, I wasn't convinced. She just sounded like such an idealist. I mean don't get me wrong, I care about the world and would do just about anything to make it a better place. But Emily had a degree in Social Justice, and seemed to think that she could just travel the world and change age old prejudices and inequalities one country at a time. I wanted to change the world, but I had long ago accepted that there were some things that you could just never change. What the developing world needed was economic strength and solid political infrastructure, not a better social justice program.

Yet Katie insisted, and insisted that we meet.

I think it probably had a lot to do with the fact that we were both gay. I mean, Katie's wonderful, but I think she assumes that just because two people are gay and single they'll automatically be attracted to each other. It's completely ludicrous really, I mean every man and woman in the world aren't attracted to each other, are they? Anyway, meeting Emily was something that was never high on my priority list; I didn't really know what I would do if I couldn't stand my best mate's sister.

"So Naomi," Katie said, snapping me out of own thoughts, "do want to go meet her?"

I shrugged noncommittally and Katie rolled her eyes before grabbing my hand and pulling me through the crowd. We squeezed through the mass of bodies on the dance floor, before Katie stopped near her parents.

"Emily, this is my friend Naomi," Katie yelled over the crowd, and I watched as the girl turned to face me.

The sight before me then made my mouth go dry.

She was absolutely stunning. I mean Katie was pretty, but Emily was absolutely gorgeous. I knew they were twins, but they really didn't look that much alike. Emily had bright red hair that flowed down to her shoulder, framing her face that was slightly less round than Katie's. She was wearing a red dress that seemed to hug every single one her small curves perfectly, before cutting off abruptly just above the knee. To top it all off, she had the deepest, most beautiful pair of brown eyes that I had ever seen. I was afraid my mouth was hanging open as I drunk her in, but she shot me an adorable half smile and stuck out her hand in greeting.

"Nice to finally meet you, Naomi."

I swallowed and nodded, uncharacteristically short on words at that moment.

"I've heard a lot about you," she continued, seeming to encourage me to actually say something.

"Uh yeah," I started," I've heard a lot about you as well."

I turned to Katie to try and alleviate some of the awkwardness I was feeling only to find that she was no longer there.

"Oh," I muttered in surprise,

"Yeah, she does that," Emily quipped as if she was reading my mind.

"I guess I should be used to it by now," I responded with a small smile and Emily laughed in response.

It was like music to my ears.

"So Naomi, Katie tells me that you're a journalist."

~:~

There are no real words to describe just how much I misjudged this girl. After spending the last hour or more talking to her, I've not only discovered that she's amazingly sweet and unbelievably intelligent, but that she's absolutely hilarious. She had so many amazing stories from her trips, and she just talked so passionately about her work. I mean, I still thought it was idealist drivel, but she made it sound interesting.

"You can't be serious! Cut off aid to Africa? Are you completely heartless?" Emily asked incredulously.

"Absolutely not," I responded resolutely, "they'd be better off for it, haven't you ever read _Dead Aid?" _

"Of course I have, it's pessimistic nonsense. Haven't you ever read _The End of Poverty_?"

"Of course I have, it's idealistic nonsense," I replied quickly, grinning widely.

She shook her head and laughed loudly before taking another sip of her drink. We were sitting outside of the party on one of the balconies in the back of the hotel. We both wrapped up in our coats and shivering, but for some reason neither of us seemed interested to make the move back inside.

"Ah, you really are a piece of work aren't you Naomi?"

"I try," I responded with a smile, earning myself yet another one of Emily's melodic laughs.

"Alright, agree to disagree?" she asked.

"Fine, but you're still wrong."

She smiled at me then; a bright, exuberant smile that I couldn't help but return. She leaned forward, placed her elbows on her knees and propped her head up with her hands.

"So Naomi, I bet I can name one think that you aren't cynical about."

"Try me," I grin, leaning back and crossing my legs, challenging her.

"Alright… puppies."

"Too much work and way too messy."

"Democracy."

"The best we have, but still barely works most of the time."

"Elephants."

"Really?"

"Okay, okay… Christmas? Come on you can't be cynical about Christmas."

In response I only looked at her, and she raised an eyebrow before jumping to her feet.

"Oh my god," she exclaimed, "how can you hate Christmas?"

"What's to love?" I shrugged.

"What's not to love," she responded stepping towards me, eyes twinkling, "Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year. I mean sure, for some people it's about presents, and for others it about the birth of a religious figure. But for me, Christmas is about lights and trees and families and Christmas parties. It's about life, and appreciating what you have. It's about spending time with the people that mean the most to you, about being generous and kind, and just loving everything. It's about..."

I wasn't sure why, I but I felt entranced by her words. I got to my feet, never breaking the eye contact that she had maintained with me throughout her entire speech, and her words died in her throat. She was drawing me in, I felt like I couldn't escape her, even if I wanted to. She swallowed noticeably before continuing.

"It's about magic," she concluded, at a much softer volume than she had started.

"Magic," I echoed, stepped closer to her as her eyes flickered down to my lips. I could feel the heat of her body radiating against my own as I finally reached out and touched her hand. It was like electricity, like touching a live wire. She reached forward to grasp my coat lightly, dropping her eyes to fixate on her thumbs that were not softly rubbing of the buttons. I stepped closer, and she met me eyes once again. We were only inches for each other now. I could feel her hot breath on my lips; it was like nothing could stop this from happening.

"Wait," she said abruptly, pulling away and breaking the spell that had been cast over us.

"I have a girlfriend," she practically whispered, casting her eyes downward as if she was unable to look at me.

Well, that stopped it.

"Oh," I responded with surprise and utter disappointment.

"Yeah," she responded, shaking her head before meeting my eyes again. Her gaze was intense, so much so that I felt like I needed to look away.

"But," she started, "this is the first time that I ever really wished that I didn't."

The sincerity in her words tugged at my heart strings and coupled with the intensity of her gaze I finally had to avert my eyes.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

"It's okay," I responded, shrugging and trying to seem indifferent.

A silence hung over us as I turned away from her and looked out over the city, allowing the lights to capture my attention for a brief moment to get my mind off of the intense disappointed I was feeling.

"Maybe we can be friends?" she asked finally.

I turned to regard her once again. The last thing I wanted to do was be her friend, but something about the way she asked; the way she was looking at me. I just couldn't say no.

"Sure, we can absolutely be friends," I responded, plastering a fake smile on my face. She smiled in return, looking somewhat satisfied with my response but still seeming conflicted.

"Great… well it was nice to meet you Naomi," she told me, before dropping her gaze and making a hasty exit back into the ballroom.

I sighed loudly and cast my gaze back over the city of London.

I fucking hate holiday parties.


	2. 2008

**Okay, so I wasn't as fast as I hoped I would be.**

**Nevertheless, here's the second chapter. **

**Thanks for all of the reviews, all of them are like a little Christmas present for my inbox :). I'm always glad to hear what you guys think, so let me know! The next chapter should hopefully be up soon.**

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_London, Christmas Eve, 2008_

Did you ever wonder what the most painful thing in the world is?

I'm sure it's different for everyone. For some it would probably be giving birth, or being kicked in the balls, or losing a child or something like that. But for me, the most painful thing in the world was the fact that the only woman I'd ever loved could never be mine.

Yes, I know, it's a little emotionally stunted of me to fall in love for first time at age twenty-six, but like I've said before, I'm a realist. When my classmates were running around chasing the objects of their puppy love during college and university, I was always dumbfounded by how they could let themselves act so ridiculously. For me, love was irrational; and while I was involved with people over the years, of course, I never really let myself succumb to it. I had broken many a heart over the fact that I couldn't open up, or couldn't commit. But now, suddenly I was just as bad as all the rest of them: so full of affection for another person that I could barely contain it within myself.

But I couldn't have her, she belonged to someone else.

In the year since I had met Emily that fateful Christmas Eve one year ago tonight, my heart had been on a nonstop roller coaster ride. It wasn't love at first sight or anything, that's just ludicrous. In fact, after our initial almost kiss I had hoped I would be able move past my initial attraction to her with relative ease. But alas, I was incorrect.

In the past year Emily had become an almost daily fixture in my life. She had secured herself a position as a researcher with a local NGO in the city, so she wasn't off gallivanting around the globe all the time anymore. And neither was I. I mean of course I still had to go off on assignment every now and then, but I had spent the better part of the year in London, much to the delight of Cook and Katie.

But for me, it really hadn't been an easy year.

Emily had held true on her desire to be my friend, and being around her all the time was not an easy task. At first, I managed to brush off the butterflies I would feel when I was around her, or the spark of electricity that would pass between us when we touched. But the more I got to know her, the harder it was to keep myself under control because really, Emily is amazing. She's so optimistic and happy, but not in a sickening way. She has a different vision of how to change the world than I do, but she's just so fucking passionate about it that it's hard not to take her seriously when she speaks. She's really exactly the woman I always envisioned myself falling in love with but I was never optimistic enough to imagine she actually existed.

I remember one time this year, back in March, when the British economist Niall Ferguson was in London giving a lecture and I asked Emily to go with me. I had taken loads of girls to lectures with me before, each of them yawning and squirming throughout, bored out of their minds and only pretending to be interested to try and impress me. But not Emily; she was entranced the entire time, listening to and analyzing every word that was said. That was when I realized it; I had found the most beautiful, interesting, and amazing woman in the world, and I could never have her. Thanks to fucking Angela.

Now, to be fair, I had only met Angela once. She was an American that Emily had met while studying in New York, and she still lived and worked there. She was some sort of financial consultant for a multinational corporation, if you can believe it. I mean, really, someone with a real chance to change the world like Emily dating someone who was nothing more than a corporate suit? Anyway, she had only been in London a couple of times this year, so I hadn't really gotten to know her. The first time she was here in June I had managed get myself sent on assignment so I wouldn't have to deal with any of it, but when she came in October I wasn't quite as lucky.

I remember I was in a pub having a few drinks with Cook and Katie when Emily brought her by for the first time. And, of course, she was fucking stunning. Athletic build, shoulder length wavy black hair, and mesmerizing green eyes. And to make matters worse, she was perfectly nice. Emily was beaming, looking happier than I had ever seen her; happier than I could make her. I was pretty quick to excuse myself that night claiming I had piles of work to do, which was true, but I never actually got to it considering I spent the better part of the night sobbing into my pillow.

Angela hadn't visited again after that, at least until tonight.

Yes, yet again I had found myself at the Fitch families' annual Christmas Eve party. And yet again, I was having a shit time, drowning my sorrows in vodka at the open bar. I watched from a distance as Emily danced with Angela, looking happy and content. I cringed and scanned the room for a glimpse of Cook or Katie only to find them happily dancing together as well.

Love is in the air, I suppose.

"Rough night?" I heard a soft voice ask from behind me. I looked back to see a rather attractive looking brunette wearing a black dress standing behind me wearing a rather flirtatious smile on her lips.

"You could say that," I responded noncommittally before turning back to my drink. The brunette was undeterred and slinked onto the bar stool beside me.

"Want to talk about it then?"

I turned and regarded her seriously for a moment; she was really fucking fit. Maybe it was time to stop being pathetic and have a little fun tonight. After all, it was Christmas and after spending the whole year acting like a love sick puppy, I deserved a present.

"I just don't really like these things, that's all," I replied with a charming smile.

"Well, you're not alone there," she replied with a laugh, "but you know what they say, misery loves company."

I laughed then; nice one.

"Naomi," I said, extending my hand.

"Carrie," she responded, reaching out and gingerly shaking my hand causing my fingers to tingle slightly. Not the same spark that I would get from Emily, but hey, I'll take it.

A little while, and a lot of drinks later, my night seemed to be looking up. Carrie was pretty cool. It turned out she was the daughter of Katie's aunt's fiancée, if you can figure that out. She was going to Goldsmiths to get her masters in linguistics and worked part time at an animal shelter. On top of all that, she was hilarious and really fucking beautiful. She wasn't Emily, but she would do.

"So anyway, it turned out that he was hiding in the freezer all along!" Carrie bellowed, finishing her story and causing both of us to erupt in laughter. Carrie leaned forward, trying to catch her breath and ended up placing her hands on my thighs. Our laughter died out, and I could see fire burning in her eyes.

"You know, my flat is only a few blocks from here," she whispered seductively, biting her bottom lip slightly. I nodded, reaching forward to run my fingers along the outside of her arm.

"I'll go get my coat," I whispered, before almost stumbling off the stool to go and try and find Katie so I could get my coat.

I was grinning stupidly as I pushed my way through the crowd, trying to remember where Katie had hidden my coat. I made my way into the entrance and spotted a coat room. I was pretty sure Katie had stuffed my coat in there, so made my way over.

I pushed the door open and fumbled around in the dark, not bothering to flick on the light. As I scrambled around I heard the door click shut behind me and the lights flicked on.

"Having a good night?" I heard a husky voice whisper, sending a shiver through my entire body.

"Hello Emily," I replied without even bothering to turn around as a fumbled through the plies of coats.

"Going somewhere?" she asked when she realized I had no intentions of responding to her first question.

"If I can find my fucking coat," I responded, somewhat annoyed at how unorganized the coat set up was.

"You shouldn't leave with Carrie you know."

My head snapped up; now I was listening. I turned to face her for the first time and I immediately realized how flustered she looked.

"And why not?" I responded, my stomach doing flip flops as I waited for her to answer.

"Because…" she started, seeming to struggle slightly, "because… because she's…"

"She's what, Emily?" I asked, getting impatient.

"I just think you can do better," she responded finally, and my stomach sank. I immediately berated myself for even allowing myself to think she was miraculously going to confess that she loved me back.

Yeah fucking right.

"Well, I think she's nice," I responded, resuming my search for my coat.

"She's not that nice," Emily practically mumbled.

"What do you care anyway?" I snapped, my emotions finally boiling over as I turned to face her again. She looked taken aback for a split second before responding with just as much venom.

"I don't care, just trying to keep you from going home with a slut that's all."

"Whatever," I responded, finally having found my coat, "have a good night," I added sarcastically as I pushed my way past her out of the closet.

I made it a few steps before I regretted my actions. I sighed and stopped, realizing it wasn't her fault that I was madly in love with her and completely unable to control my emotions. I turned back and noticed that she still hadn't left the closet. I was confused, but I made my way back over to apologize anyway. I could hear muted noises coming from inside, but before I could open the door I was accosted by Carrie.

"Ready babe?" she asked, blatantly leering at me.

I hesitated, looking back and forth between her and the closet. I knew what I wanted to do, but I also knew what I shouldn't do.

So, I nodded, and Carrie grabbed my hand and pulled me through the lobby and out into the snow filled street.


End file.
